THEATRE
The Amateurs by Jordan Harrison ★★★★ (4)
At Red Stitch, until July 24, 2022
Reviewer: Kate Herbert
This review was first published in The Age Arts online on Monday July 4 and in print on Tuesday July 5 2022.
Click this link The Amateurs and scroll down to the second review.
Darcy Kent, Emily Goddard in The Amateurs.Credit:Jodie Hutchinson
The Amateurs portrays a troupe of pageant players travelling Europe seeking to outrun the Black Death. But this tragic-comedy sees playwright Jordan Harrison paint multiple layers that echo our recent global pandemic and also the AIDS epidemic and its dreadful toll.
Harrison’s play-within-a-play, deftly and sensitively directed by Susie Dee, seems on the surface to be a cleverly wrought, often hilarious depiction of a motley group of medieval players who hope to impress a duke with their morality play, Noah’s Flood, so that he will take them under his protection thus saving them from certain death by plague.
They perform their play in a stilted, histrionic acting style interrupted by backstage shenanigans, fractious relationships, confessions and daily grind. But the play sneaks up on us, reaching into the depths of our humanity to squeeze out an unexpected, spontaneous tear.
Emily Goddard, Khisraw Jones-Shukoor, Dion Mills, Brian Lipson in The Amateurs.Credit:Jodie Hutchinson
The most startling moment comes when actor Brian Lipson steps out of character as Gregory “the idiot”, speaking directly to they audience as playwright Harrison, to explain his motivation in writing this play. Yes, it’s almost impertinent for Harrison to insert himself so blatantly and, in the hands of a lesser actor, this might be jarring or unwelcome. But the inimitable Lipson commands our attention with his riveting delivery and, in a quirky characterisation of Harrison, unfurls the writer’s moving tale of coming out at the peak of the AIDS epidemic.
He weaves into this tapestry a complex, compelling discourse on the development of the sense of “self” after the Middle Ages and the relationship to the evolution of character in theatre. No, it’s not dry; it is magnetic, absorbing and fascinating and you’ll talk about it on the way home.
Lipson shines as Gregory, the simple-minded set and prop designer, bringing joy, warmth, hilarity and impeccable timing to the character’s childlike musings and observations as he prepares his drawings of Noah’s animals marching two-by-two. Emily Goddard is touching as Hollis, the naïve actor who begins to challenge not only her role as the nameless Noah’s Wife, but the entire fabric of acting.
Khisraw Jones-Shukoor is arresting as the Physic, Darcy Kent versatile as Brom, Olga Makeeva suitably shrewish and insecure as Rona, while Dion Mills is pompous, blustering and eventually fragile as Larking, the leading actor who plays God.
The Amateurs may be performed in a tiny space with no high-tech wizardry, but Dann Barber’s shabby peasant costumes, grim masks and gloriously imaginative, grey-white design that draws on 14th century imagery, are superb features complemented by Rachel Burke’s evocative, atmospheric lighting.
We look to the past to learn about our present and Harrison’s play tells us to take heed; history repeats itself.
Reviewed by Kate Herbert
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